Your First Car....

[AeroFan_07]

^^ May contribute to lower home insurance costs.

2 years back I moved into a more major city fron a rural home and was shocked that my home insurance also dropped - like $400 a year. Even with more crime. Stated reason - 2+ miles to nearest fire hydrant/fire station from old rural home. Now it's just across the street.

 

[Rats Rateye]

This is a very difficult subject for me because of how much I loved this car... When I got out of the ARMY in 1992, I came across a 4 door, MIST green, 58 Plymouth Savoy. Everyone called it "Elvis Green". It had a flat-head 6 and push-button transmission. She had manual breaks, manual steering, a rear-view mirror on the dash, NO seat belts, NO radio, and yet she had the BEST heater of any car. She also had barely any rust, as if the woman had kept her in the garage forever. And since her son wasn't a gear head of any kind (neither was I actually), my buddies managed to talk me into cashing in some of the bonds that I saved when I was in the service and buy her for only "$2000 dollars". And aside from at "old car, musty smell that everyone loves", she was perfect! She was as long as a pickup truck and so wide that I could put my arm across the seat and barely touch the front passenger. And I could easily fit three,"almost" four people in the backseat. I remember my buddies even joked that if I was a mobster I could probably "cram" three or four bodies in the trunk. (Yeah, they were weird like that). But have to say, that she had fins that went forever! When you looked in the rear-view mirrors, almost looked as if there was another car next to you. God, I loved that car! That is until my trannie blew.... However, a hard earned $1,200 dollars later, I was back on the road... That Winter I was hit by a snow plow that went through a red light...and though it spun me around and cut my engine, all it did was put a small triangle sized dent on one of my right fin about the size of a baseball. With any other car, I might have been killed. But my girl was a tank! What kills me is that the driver was drunk and then he took off before I could get his info or plate number. Then about a year or so later my tranny blew "again" and since I was "finally" going to college, I really couldn't afford to fix her again. And since my current girlfriend and I had just split, I was stuck with no where to keep her during the Winter... So I had to sell her. Now I'm not going to mention how much I sold her for, but compared to the prices that are demanded today... Grrrr. Yeah, I really don't even want to talk about. So with that said, I can't even find any of my pictures of her. So that was my first car and God I miss her.

 

[Edward]

I’ve never lived in a place where cars were safety inspected as a condition of licensure. Emissions, yes, but not anything else. I’ve owned and driven cars that really weren’t fit for use on the public roadways. That’s been a long time ago, and I’m certainly not proud of it. But I’d bet that millions of similarly unfit motor vehicles are in use every day. It remains that in much of this country a car is central to participating in the economy. The fellow who works a low-paying graveyard shift job in a warehouse 20 miles from home will drive to and from that job in a car with bald tires and metal-on-metal brakes, and hope that it lasts until he gets his tax refund.

The US is very much a car culture. One of my sisters-in-law spent a couple of years in the US, and went from not wanting a car to buying one very quickly. When you see how necessary a car is in the US to get around, you can begin to see how some choose to live in a car rather than give it up to scrape rent. (Size helps here - our smaller cars here in Europe would be much harder to sleep easily in!)

 

[BobHufford]

... I was hit by a snow plow that went through a red light...and though it spun me around and cut my engine, all it did was put a small triangle sized dent on one of my right fin about the size of a baseball. With any other car, I might have been killed. But my girl was a tank!

Sorry for your loss. I was hit in my '57 Cadillac Sedan de Ville by an early '90s Chevy that blew a light and hit me centered on the front wheel. All I felt was a "bump" and was not sure what had happened at first. I pulled over and looked back at the intersection. The Chevy was spun around and entire front end was in pieces all over the road. I thought that someone surely had to have been injured, but they were OK. The damage the Caddy had didn't look too bad. Some damage to the fender behind the wheel and scrapes and a small cut in the sheet metal of the door. It took six months to get it repaired though as the "old guys" that could have hammered it out were gone so we had to source a fender and door. The first shipment got lost somehow and the second ended up coming out of Texas (to Springfield, Missouri). The front bumper had a small scratch and I was able to get the insurance adjuster to agree to re-chroming it (although I had to give up coverage for the scuffs on the whitewall tire as that was deemed "cosmetic"). They had to send the bumper to Kansas City as no shop around here had a big enough vat!

 

[AeroFan_07]

The US is very much a car culture. One of my sisters-in-law spent a couple of years in the US, and went from not wanting a car to buying one very quickly. When you see how necessary a car is in the US to get around, you can begin to see how some choose to live in a car rather than give it up to scrape rent.

In the late 1990's I was helping with a rental home in the central suburbs of Chicago. A person called to possibly rent a room in that house and showed up driving a box truck owned by his work. He stated proudly that he had chosen "not to own a car" but rather relied upon others to give him rides, etc. He felt this was more enviromentally responsible. I then asked if he had his manager's permission to drive a work-owned vechile off hours. He indicated his boss was out of town, and "probalby would not mind." That's all we needed to hear - move along please.

The nearest grocery store was over 5 miles away. In that area, there was great public transportation to go into Chicago, but not a whole lot else.

 

[Edward]

In the late 1990's I was helping with a rental home in the central suburbs of Chicago. A person called to possibly rent a room in that house and showed up driving a box truck owned by his work. He stated proudly that he had chosen "not to own a car" but rather relied upon others to give him rides, etc. He felt this was more enviromentally responsible. I then asked if he had his manager's permission to drive a work-owned vechile off hours. He indicated his boss was out of town, and "probalby would not mind." That's all we needed to hear - move along please.

The nearest grocery store was over 5 miles away. In that area, there was great public transportation to go into Chicago, but not a whole lot else.

Risky option... I don't know about in the US, but certainly over here unless specified it was permissible, I would expect that the insurance might refuse to pay out in the event of a specifically work vehicle being used privately. In which case he could also get hit for driving without insurance...

I remember the parent of somebody else I was at school with had an attitude of "why should I run a car when I can always get a lift". After a few years, he ran out of people who'd give him a lift as he was just a bit too open about it! I'm all for environmentalism, but then there's just basic selfishness for which "being green" is a flimsy excuse!

 

[tonyb]

... I then asked if he had his manager's permission to drive a work-owned vechile off hours. He indicated his boss was out of town, and "probalby would not mind." That's all we needed to hear - move along please. ...

In a way he made things easier for you by letting you know upfront what sort of character he was.

 

[AeroFan_07]

^^ Edward -- Exactly! Simply lazy is one thought, not wanting to commit or take responsibility is another. In the USA - unless in a major urban center, having an operable car is a necessity. And yes the liabilites of using someone else's vechicle - or having to rely upon your "friends" is a good way to not have any friends very soon. Now of course we have Uber & Lyft - but after the Pandemic, many folks doing that got cold feet and do not want to do it any more.

 

[AeroFan_07]

In a way he made things easier for you by letting you know upfront what sort of character he was.

Yes - exactly on that too! Better to find out sooner than later...

 

[tonyb]

Yes - exactly on that too! Better to find out sooner than later...

I’ve been a renter and I’ve been a rental-property owner (“landlord” grates, as I’ve never thought myself a “lord” of any kind).

Good renters are a blessing. You hope they’ll stay forever, but they likely won’t. They’re renters either because, 1.) they’re in town temporarily, for school or a short-term job, or, 2.) they have yet to save up the down payment for a home they’ll buy.

Bad renters are a nightmare, and in most jurisdictions of my familiarity the laws are mostly on their side. They can rip you off for several months rent before you can evict them, and recovering that lost money is in most cases a futile effort. Sure, you might win a judgment, but good luck ever collecting on it. Better to devote your energy to repairing the damage they did to the place.

 

[Zombie_61]

Risky option... I don't know about in the US, but certainly over here unless specified it was permissible, I would expect that the insurance might refuse to pay out in the event of a specifically work vehicle being used privately. In which case he could also get hit for driving without insurance...

In my experience the insurance companies here in the U.S. will do just about anything they can to get out of paying a claim; it wouldn't surprise me to find that somewhere in their morass of clauses it was stated the vehicle wasn't covered during non-business hours and/or was being used for non-business reasons. Of course, his supervisors at the company could easily lie and say he was on the clock and making a special run, so...

Also, if he had chosen "not to own a car" I have to wonder if his driver's license was still valid.

 

[Rats Rateye]

Sorry for your loss. I was hit in my '57 Cadillac Sedan de Ville by an early '90s Chevy that blew a light and hit me centered on the front wheel. All I felt was a "bump" and was not sure what had happened at first. I pulled over and looked back at the intersection. The Chevy was spun around and entire front end was in pieces all over the road. I thought that someone surely had to have been injured, but they were OK. The damage the Caddy had didn't look too bad. Some damage to the fender behind the wheel and scrapes and a small cut in the sheet metal of the door. It took six months to get it repaired though as the "old guys" that could have hammered it out were gone so we had to source a fender and door. The first shipment got lost somehow and the second ended up coming out of Texas (to Springfield, Missouri). The front bumper had a small scratch and I was able to get the insurance adjuster to agree to re-chroming it (although I had to give up coverage for the scuffs on the whitewall tire as that was deemed "cosmetic"). They had to send the bumper to Kansas City as no shop around here had a big enough vat!

 

[Rats Rateye]

Woah. That is a nice looking ride.

 

[BobHufford]

Woah. That is a nice looking ride.

Thanks Rats! It was a fun daily driver for a few years. Traded it for a VW Bus.

 

[tonyb]

^^^^^
I’m insured five ways to Tuesday.

Sorry for your loss. I was hit in my '57 Cadillac Sedan de Ville by an early '90s Chevy that blew a light and hit me centered on the front wheel. All I felt was a "bump" and was not sure what had happened at first. I pulled over and looked back at the intersection. The Chevy was spun around and entire front end was in pieces all over the road. I thought that someone surely had to have been injured, but they were OK. The damage the Caddy had didn't look too bad. Some damage to the fender behind the wheel and scrapes and a small cut in the sheet metal of the door. It took six months to get it repaired though as the "old guys" that could have hammered it out were gone so we had to source a fender and door. The first shipment got lost somehow and the second ended up coming out of Texas (to Springfield, Missouri). The front bumper had a small scratch and I was able to get the insurance adjuster to agree to re-chroming it (although I had to give up coverage for the scuffs on the whitewall tire as that was deemed "cosmetic"). They had to send the bumper to Kansas City as no shop around here had a big enough vat!

Back when we were teenagers my brother Mike had ’55 Coupe deVille, yellow with a black hardtop. We called it the Bananalac.

 

[Studebaker Driver]

My first car was a 1920 Model T Ford pickup.
No, I did not buy it new.

 

[tonyb]

My first car was a 1920 Model T Ford pickup.
No, I did not buy it new.

What year was that?

 

[Rats Rateye]

Thanks Rats! It was a fun daily driver for a few years. Traded it for a VW Bus.

A VW Bus is still sharp. My buddy had one years back and we all used to all pile into that thing. Probably fit as many people as my Plymouth. Good times.

 

[Rats Rateye]

^^^^^
I’m insured five ways to Tuesday.


Back when we were teenagers my brother Mike had ’55 Coupe deVille, yellow with a black hardtop. We called it the Bananalac.

That's awesome!

 

[Edward]

^^ Edward -- Exactly! Simply lazy is one thought, not wanting to commit or take responsibility is another. In the USA - unless in a major urban center, having an operable car is a necessity. And yes the liabilites of using someone else's vechicle - or having to rely upon your "friends" is a good way to not have any friends very soon. Now of course we have Uber & Lyft - but after the Pandemic, many folks doing that got cold feet and do not want to do it any more.

I've never been a fan of taxis - London having the luxury of 24 hour public transport, of course - but it's been interesting seeing how the taxi businesses round here survive (or not) the pandemic. Some folks have taken to taxis instead of the tube where they can, others are flocking to electric bicycles. Two-wheel transport of all sorts has risen markedly in popularity in the last decade or so here. It'll be interesting to see whether a shift to electric two-wheelers really takes off post-pandemic as I think a lot of people will think twice about taking the tube.

There is something of a car culture here in East London, very much the small, hot-hatch with the expensive stereo / Max Power kind of aesthetic. Mostly young men from a community where multi-generational living is more common, hence generally having more disposable income to spend on a car, though sadly in this modern world we're also increasingly seeing young ladies from various religious backgrounds driving for the simple reason they feel safer than on public transport. I have no doubt all of this will shift tog electric vehicles rapidly in the next couple of decades (the performance car crowd are fast seeing the benefits of electric motors that regularly outperform petrol engines for acceleration and such). My nephew is fourteen, saving like mad for his first car. I wouldn't rule out that he might end up in an electric car fairly early in his driving days, if not his first car. A long way in two short generations from my Dad's first car, which was a late 1940s Morris Minor. Ironically, if that's what the young man wanted, he could buy a cheap and easy, road-legal electric conversion kit for such a car. I have a feeling that while there will be a split in the hobbyist world between the internal combustion purists and the EV conversionists, that's probably how we'll end up seeing a lot of those lovely old motors still no the road in a few years.